burrowing barnacle
Quick Summary
The term "burrowing barnacle" refers to a specific type of barnacle, belonging to the order Acrothoracica. These are small, unisexual crustaceans that lack shells and have fewer than six pairs of feathery, retractile appendages called cirri. Unlike many other barnacles that attach to hard surfaces, burrowing barnacles bore into calcareous substrates such as clam shells, corals, and even snail shells occupied by hermit crabs.12
Barnacles, in general, are marine crustaceans highly adapted to a sedentary lifestyle. As adults, they are typically covered in calcareous plates and cemented head-down to various surfaces. They capture food particles using their cirri. Most adult barnacles are hermaphrodites, possessing both male and female reproductive organs, and typically engage in cross-fertilization. Their larval stage, known as nauplii, are free-swimming, eventually developing into a nonfeeding cypris larva before metamorphosing into the adult form.1
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barnacleBurrowing barnacles (order Acrothoracica, about 30 species) are small, unisexual forms that lack shells and have fewer than six pairs of cirri. They burrow into hard limy material, such as clam shells and coral. Trypetesa is found only inside snail shells occupied by hermit crabs.
Read MoreBurrowing barnacles (order Acrothoracica, about 30 species) are small, unisexual forms that lack shells and have fewer than six pairs of cirri. They burrow into hard limy material, such as clam shells and coral. Trypetesa is found only inside snail shells occupied by hermit crabs.
Read More- cirripedeDiversity and distribution
…the Acrothoracica are known as burrowing barnacles because they burrow into calcareous substrates (e.g., limestone, corals, and mollusk shells). The acrothoracicans are recognized as fossils primarily by their burrows, and, while their record extends back into the Devonian Period, they are particularly well represented in the Cretaceous Period, when they…
Read More…the Acrothoracica are known as burrowing barnacles because they burrow into calcareous substrates (e.g., limestone, corals, and mollusk shells). The acrothoracicans are recognized as fossils primarily by their burrows, and, while their record extends back into the Devonian Period, they are particularly well represented in the Cretaceous Period, when they…
Read More - cirripedeAnnotated classification
Superorder Acrothoracica (burrowing barnacles)Devonian to present; globular in shape; generally without conspicuous calcareous exoskeleton; posterior cirri concentrated at end of trunk; widely distributed in coralline seas, most primitive members in deep sea; approximately 1 mm in length. All 30 species parasitize cnidarians or echinoderms.Superorder Thoracica…
Read MoreSuperorder Acrothoracica (burrowing barnacles)Devonian to present; globular in shape; generally without conspicuous calcareous exoskeleton; posterior cirri concentrated at end of trunk; widely distributed in coralline seas, most primitive members in deep sea; approximately 1 mm in length. All 30 species parasitize cnidarians or echinoderms.Superorder Thoracica…
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